


they come on all fours

by mimiwrites



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Body Horror, M/M, Mentions of Death, Paranormal, Science Fiction, fringe au, x-files au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:21:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22827850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mimiwrites/pseuds/mimiwrites
Summary: What should have just been a homicide investigation had quickly begun to morph into something much more peculiar, and much more sinister. While Oikawa had been chasing the paranormal his whole life, now it seemed that Iwaizumi, Daichi, and Kuroo were wrapped up in it as well.Loosely based off of the TV Series "X-Files"
Relationships: Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Kuroo Tetsurou/Sawamura Daichi
Comments: 27
Kudos: 51





	they come on all fours

**Author's Note:**

> shout out to nostra, who happened to tweet something about forensic pathologists just being death nerds, and accidentally inspiring this fic

There's little sound from within the barriers of the yellow tape, only the shuffling of clothes as people took pictures, left numbered markers on possible evidence. Not even the birds are talking. No one quite knows what to say. 

At around 3:33 that morning, a man was found dead on a farm without any visible signs of trauma. The only evidence is that surrounding the body is a perfect ring burned into the grass. 

The two federal agents present look at each other. 

“You know you’re gonna have to call him, right?” Daichi asks. 

“Yeah, I know,” Iwaizumi agrees, already typing Oikawa’s number on his phone. 

  
*** * ***   
  


They meet Oikawa back at the Bureau, since he was already on another call and couldn’t come to the farm right away. Daichi never met him before, but he’s heard a lot about him from other agents, including Iwaizumi. 

Agent Oikawa is known for being a bit eccentric, to put it lightly. A lot of their colleagues think of him as a madman, albeit a very charming madman. Many feel that he is wasting his talents chasing ghost stories and UFO’s, but Oikawa has always stood firm in his beliefs. The agency even gave him his own department to investigate the unexplained, though he's the only member on staff. He used to be Iwaizumi’s partner before then, but Daichi was assigned to take his place after he left. He hopes that won't cause any bad blood between them. Daichi also heard that, despite their somewhat antagonistic relationship, the pair are quite close. 

“Iwa-chan!” comes a melodic voice, breaking Daichi out of his thoughts. 

“I told you not to call me that, Oikawa,” Iwaizumi replies dryly. 

“Oh, and you must be Sawamura-kun! Iwa-chan has told me a lot about you." Oikawa reaces his hand out towards Daichi, ignoring Iwaizumi’s glare. 

“I hope it wasn’t all bad,” Daichi chuckles, giving him a firm handshake. 

“All good things! Though I wish I could say the same about me…”

“Give me something good to say about you and I will," Iwaizumi drawls. 

“Rude!” 

“Stop being childish, I called you for an actual reason."

Almost immediately, Oikawa becomes quite serious. His eyes darken, but the smile on his face remains in place. “I know. Tell me everything.”

“There isn’t much to say, dead guy found on a farm, no obvious blunt force trauma or entry wounds, no signs of a struggle, no footprints around the body, no I.D.,” Iwaizumi explains. 

“And there was a circle burned around him. Perfect circumference, we measured,” Daichi adds. “Pretty unusual.”

“Hm, unusual indeed,” Oikawa nods pensively. “Where is the body now?”

Iwaizumi shrugs. “Probably on its way to the lab, if it isn’t there already. We were about to go check.”

“Ooh, it’s been a while since I’ve seen Kuro-chan,” Oikawa says excitedly as they make their way to the elevator. 

“You know Kuroo?” Daichi asks. 

“He’s the only one willing to test the samples I bring back.”

“You should stop taking advantage of his good nature,” Iwaizumi chastises, but the statement makes Daichi snort. 

“If he didn’t want to do it, he’d just say so,” Oikawa shoots back.

Daichi enters the lab first, and if he stood a little straighter, no one says anything. 

“Look what the kitty cat dragged in.”

Kuroo looks up from the cadaver on his table and grins. “Is this a gift from you? Aw, you shouldn’t have.”

“I thought you’d appreciate this over flowers," Daichi tells him cheekily.

Kuroo's smile widens. “You’re going to make me blush.”

“How can you two flirt when there’s a dead body between you?” Iwaizumi asks, a little disgusted. 

Daichi’s ears go red as he scratches the back of his neck. “We’re not…”

“Kuro-chan, leave poor Sawamura-kun alone,” Oikawa says, but he doesn't sound like he actually meant it. In fact, he is poorly trying to hide a smirk behind his hand.

“Oh? Oika’a-kun’s here too?” Kuroo raises an eyebrow. “You guys must have found something interesting.”

“That remains to be seen,” Iwaizumi drawls. “What can you tell us about the body?”

“Our unfortunate friend just showed up moments before you all did, so I haven’t actually gotten a chance to take a closer look," Kuroo explains, swiveling in his chair toward the autopsy table. "No obvious signs of death, I’m running his blood work now to see if there are any toxins in his system.”

“Any tattoos, scars, something to help us figure out who this guy is?” Daichi asks him. 

“Nope, he’s completely spotless.”

“Hm, we’ll have to go another route." Daichi brings a hand to his chin in thought. "Can you send me a picture of his face?”

“Anything for you,” Kuroo purrs with a wink. “Want one of me, too?”

Iwaizumi rolls his eyes and shakes his head. 

“Don’t fall for his tricks, Sawamura-kun, he’s not as nice as he seems,” Oikawa warns, throwing an arm around him. 

“Believe me, I know,” Daichi smiles.

Kuroo pouts dramatically. “Aw, and here I was being my charitable self. I’ll remember this next time you need a weird sample tested, Oika’a-kun.”

That made Oikawa recoil slightly. “I’ll uh, make it up to you?”

“How about,” Iwaizumi says, grabbing Oikawa and pushing him toward the door, “we let Kuroo get back to work and we try and figure out who this guy is.”

“Call me as soon as you have something,” Daichi says behind him, following after his partners. 

“I’ve got you on speed dial,” Kuroo winks. 

  
*** * ***   
  


“Sawamura-kun, have you ever heard about the man from Taured?” Oikawa asks as the three of them lounge around his office. 

Calling it an office is being a bit generous. It's small, in the basement, and poorly lit. Filing cabinets go nearly to the ceiling, and there are maps with markers and photos all over the walls. But at least it has a computer, which was currently running the picture of the man that Kuroo sent them through a database. 

“Here we go…” Iwaizumi mumbles. 

“The man from where?” Daichi repeats, genuinely curious. 

Oikawa's eyes light up. “Oh, it’s fascinating. You see, in 1954 at Haneda Airport over in Tokyo, a European plane landed and dropped off its passengers. Nothing out of the ordinary, until they started going through customs. One of the passengers told customs that he was here on business. He’d already been here a couple times before, his first language was French but he spoke some Japanese. He said he traveled a lot, even had a bunch of different currencies from various European countries in his wallet. But when they asked where he was from, he told them Taured. Now, have you ever heard of a country called Taured, Sawamura-kun?”

Daichi shakes his head. “No, I haven’t."

“Don’t entertain him, now he’ll never shut up,” Iwaizumi groans. 

“Quiet, Iwa-chan. Anyway, well, neither had the airport security. But there it was, listed on his passport, on his checks. They showed him a map and asked him to point to it. He pointed to Andorra, saying that the map must be a fake because that’s where Taured is, and that Andorra is the country that doesn’t exist.”

Daichi listens to Oikawa intently, while Iwaizumi gives him an annoyed glare. He’s heard this story at least a dozen times now, it was one of Oikawa’s favorites. 

“The guy thinks they’re playing a joke on him. The airport officials call the company he’s supposed to have a meeting with, and they say they’ve never heard of him before. The hotel he had a reservation at showed no record of him either. So they decide to put him in a hotel for a night and try and figure it out in the morning.”

Oikawa leanes in toward Daichi, his eyes bright with excitement. 

“Now, here’s where it gets _really_ interesting. The next morning when they went to get him, they opened the door and he was gone. There were guards outside his door the entire time, and they didn’t see or hear anything. There weren’t any signs of escape, or even that someone had been there. On top of that, all of his belongings that had been confiscated and locked away in airport security, they vanished too. The man from Taured just disappeared without a trace. So, what do you think happened, Mr. Detective?”

Daichi knits his eyebrows in thought, bringing his hand to his chin. “It’s possible that he was a spy and had help, maybe someone from the inside. Or, if we’re assuming the existence of infinite dimensions and alternate realities, I guess it’s possible he could have somehow slipped into our dimension through some sort of blip, then slipped right back into his.”

Oikawa grins at Iwaizumi. “Oh, I like him.”

“Are there any official documents on this? I can’t believe I’ve never heard of it before.”

“Nope, because it didn’t happen,” Iwaizumi answers. 

“Or because someone is trying to cover it up,” Oikawa retorts. 

Iwaizumi scoffs. “Cover what up? The guy probably didn’t even exist.”

“But this isn’t the only time this has happened! There have been reports just like this from even the 1800’s!”

Iwaizumi gives him an exasperated look and crossed his arms. “So that proves the existence of alternate dimensions, then?”

“Well, it doesn’t disprove it,” Oikawa says back haughtily, crossing his arms as well.

Iwaizumi rolls his eyes. “Wow, you got me there.”

Before Oikawa can respond back, an alert sounds comes from the computer. 

“Damn...no matches,” Daichi mutters at the screen. “Was this run through the missing person’s database too?”

“No, but that’s a good idea,” Iwaizumi replies, typing into the computer. “Might take a few hours, though.”

Oikawa gets up from his seat and faces them. “While we wait, I want to go to the location where the body was found, talk to the farmers."

“But we were just there,” Iwaizumi grumbles. 

“You were there, but I wasn’t.”

“You already read the report, what else do you wanna know?”

“Maybe something was missed," Oikawa points out. "Maybe no one was asking the right questions.”

“Oh like what, did you see any little gray men?” Iwaizumi mumbles.

“Grays are very real, Iwa-chan!” Oikawa huffs. “But no, I have some of my own questions I’d like to ask, if you don’t mind.”

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll go,” Iwaizumi sighs, grabbing his keys and his coat. 

Daichi can't help but watch them with amusement. Even with the arguing, he can see the affection laced between each interaction. He understands now how they had been partners for so many years. 

“Alright, let’s go.”

  
*** * ***   
  


It's about an hour drive to get to Fukushima, the prefecture just directly below Miyagi. Oikawa bounces ideas off of Daichi on the way there, Iwaizumi mostly arguing with him on each one. Oikawa has just started to get into cattle mutilations when they pull up to the location. 

The farm itself is relatively small, just under three acres in total. The house is in the eastern corner, where farmers Hayashida Shinju and Mio live with their three dogs. 

Iwaizumi parks the car facing toward the exit, a force of habit rather than actual concern that things will go south. They all start to walk towards the house, stopping at the steps when Daichi’s phone rang. 

“Oh, hold on, it’s Kuroo,” Daichi says, accepting the call. 

“Hey, Kuroo. You’re on speaker, so please don’t say anything unprofessional.”

_“Or what, you gonna punish me Daddy?”_

Daichi pinches the bridge of his nose, and he could hear Kuroo smack his forehead over the line. He gives Oikawa and Iwaizumi an exasperated, apologetic look, but they look positively amused. 

Kuroo clears his throat. _“Um, anyway, I’m calling about the body. What exactly did you bring me, Sa’amura?”_

“What do you mean?” Daichi asks.

_“I tested the DNA, but it just doesn’t add up. The DNA, it isn’t fully...human. Or animal. Or plant? I’ve never seen anything like it. There were even traces of Technetium in his blood, among other things.”_

Oikawa grabs Daichi’s hand still holding the phone. 

“Did you say Technetium?” he nearly shouts. 

“What’s that?” Iwaizumi asks him. 

“It’s an element only found naturally in space!" Oikawa tells him breathlessly. "I mean, we’ve manufactured it here on Earth, but still...why would this guy have that in his system.”

 _“That’s not even the weirdest part,"_ Kuroo pipes in. 

Daichi pulls his hand out of Oikawa’s grasp. “What else did you find?”

_“I just can’t wrap my head around it. With DNA this mutated, I can’t believe how normal he looks on the outside.”_

“On the outside?” Iwaizumi repeats. 

_“Yeah. His insides are all messed up. He has two hearts, for starters. His shoulder is completely dislocated, and he’s got a few other broken bones. It’s like he drove a car into a brick wall at full speed. And his other organs…”_

“What?” Iwaizumi asks.

_“They just aren’t right. I’m not sure how to describe it. It’s like someone tried to recreate human organs from memory.”_

Daichi looks between Iwaizumi and Oikawa. No one knows what to make of that information. 

_“I’m gonna keep running tests. Whoever, or whatever this guy is, I’m going to figure it out.”_

“I’m sure you will,” Daichi smiles. “Call if you find something, ok?”

_“Aye, aye, capp’n. And Sa’amura?”_

“Yeah?”

_“You owe me for this. Big time.”_

“How’s dinner sound?”

_“I like fish.”_

“Noted.”

_“And you better take me somewhere nice! I’ve been dealing with radioactive blood for you, ya know.”_

“Goodbye, Kuroo.”

Iwaizumi is smirking at Daichi when he hangs up. 

“Don’t.”

“I didn’t even say anything,” Iwaizumi grins, biting his tongue. 

When they knock on the door of the farmhouse, a tall older woman with messy gray hair greets them. Shinju looks surprised to see the agents again, but she invites them inside anyway. They each take a seat in the living room while she gets some tea ready. 

“Sawamura-san, Iwaizumi-san, we didn’t expect to see you back so soon,” Mio says as she walks into the room. 

“We apologize for the inconvenience, but we brought someone who wanted to ask you some further questions, if that’s alright,” Daichi says, motioning towards Oikawa. 

“I’m Agent Oikawa, thank you so much for allowing us into your beautiful home,” he smiles, laying thick on the charm. She isn't too impressed. 

“Sure. I’m Mio, and you already met my wife, Shinju. What other questions did you want to ask us?”

Oikawa sits up taller, getting straight to business. “Mio-san, before you found the body, I was wondering if you’d noticed anything leading up to that morning? Did anything a little out of the ordinary happen that night, or week before perhaps?”

Shinju comes in with the tea and gives Mio an uneasy look. 

“Is something wrong?” Oikawa asks, noticing how Shinju’s hands shake as she passes everyone a cup. 

“We should tell them,” Shinju says quietly. 

“Why, so they can think we’re dumb, crazy country folk?” Mio huffs angrily. 

“I promise you, whatever you have to say, I am here to listen,” Oikawa assures them. “Nothing is too small, or too absurd. I can see that you are both hard-working, honest women. Please, if you have any information to help us with this case, you can tell us.”

The women look at each other thoughtfully. After a moment, they decide to give in.

“Last month, we were seeing lights all around the farm,” Mio starts.

“Lights? What kind of lights?” Oikawa asks quickly. 

“Small floating lights, like orbs I guess. Whenever I’d go out to check to see what they were, they’d disappear.”

“Then, about a week ago, we thought there was a fire out near one of the crops,” Shinju adds. 

“What do you mean, you thought there was a fire?” Iwaizumi asks. 

“Well, it was huge and bright, much more than the lights we were used to seeing. I called the fire brigade and Mio drove the truck out to see what it was, but…”

“Again, when I got there, there was nothing. No fire, no burn marks. It was just gone,” Mio finishes.

“And then,” Shinju says shakily, nearly on the verge of tears, “last night, the dogs went missing. They still haven’t come back.”

Daichi leans forward to give her a reassuring touch on the shoulder. “Do you think they ran away?”

“No,” Mio says certainly. “Those dogs were loyal to us and weren’t scared of anything, they would have fought a bear if they had to. They did not run away.”

Oikawa closes his eyes in thought. 

“What do you think happened?” Shinju asks, and they all know she doesn't just mean about the dogs. 

“We don’t know yet, but we are working to figure it out,” Iwaizumi assures them. 

“Do you mind if we go back to where the body was found?” Oikawa asks. 

Mio shrugs. “Go ahead." 

Oikawa stands up and gives the women a polite bow. “Thank you so much for sharing this vital information with us. I promise you, I’m going to do everything I can to understand this.”

“Do you believe us?” Shinju asks. Her eyes are wide and earnest, and terrified. 

Oikawa looks at her intensely. His eyes are ablaze with something fierce of his own. “Absolutely.”

Mio and Shinju walk them out the door, reminding them which direction the body was found. They seem hopeful, much more so than when the agents had first arrived that morning. 

“I can see the gears in your head turning,” Iwaizumi says to Oikawa as they make their way across the farm. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking this isn’t just some standard death case. And you know it, too.”

“Obviously, that’s why I called you. That doesn’t mean I think it’s…” he trails off, not even wanting to say it. 

“Aliens?” Daichi provides for him. 

“Even if you choose to not believe in them, that isn’t going to stop them from existing,” Oikawa says. “Or operating.”

“Ok, assuming this is the work of extraterrestrials, what would they even want here?” Daichi waves his hand toward the farm. “It’s just rice patties and fruit out here.”

“It’s hard to know what more intelligent beings are thinking,” Oikawa sighs wistfully. 

“Everyone’s a more intelligent being compared to you…” Iwaizumi mutters. 

“Ok, Mr. Know-It-All, how do you explain all the lights?”

“Maybe some people are playing a prank.”

“I’d hardly call a dead body a prank,” Oikawa argues.

“Maybe someone is going to extreme lengths to throw us off," Iwaizumi says. "Or prove aliens exist by falsifying evidence.”

Oikawa gives him a pointed look. “How do you explain away what Kuro-chan said, then? About the DNA, the organs?”

Iwaizumi sighs and rubs the back of his head. 

“I… I don't know. But I’m sure there’s a logical answer in all this.”

“The problem is that you don’t see extraterrestrial activity as logic.”

“What do you think happened to the dogs?” Daichi asks suddenly.

Oikawa sighs. “Unfortunately… I think they’re gone for good. I’ve seen it happen before. I heard how a farmer in America lost all of his hunting dogs, all he ever found were three piles of black goo.”

“They do that?” Daichi sounds horrified. 

“Don’t tell me you’re actually considering this was aliens,” Iwaizumi gawks at him. 

“Look, I’m just saying, we should keep all options open until we know more.”

Oikawa pats Daichi on the shoulder and smiles. “Say, how would you like to become my new partner, Sawamura-kun?”

Daichi laughs. “No way, I don’t think I could deal with this as my regular. Besides, Iwaizumi would miss me.”

“Uh-huh,” Iwaizumi scoffs. 

When they finally cross the yellow tape, Oikawa crouches down and observes the burned circle in the ground, the reason they walked out here. It's about three inches thick, burnt all the way to the dirt. However, none of the grass surrounding it is harmed. No flayed ends, a perfectly contained scorch. 

“There were samples taken of the dirt, yes?” he asks. 

Daichi nods. “Yup. Of the soil in and out of the circle. The inside soil’s nutrients are different, less soluble.”

“I won’t be surprised if nothing grows on this spot for ten years.”

“Have you seen things like this before, Oikawa?” Daichi asks curiously.

“Here and there, mostly things I’ve read. Though, the dead body is new. I’ve heard of animal carcasses being found flayed out, or drained of all their blood. But this… this is definitely a new one for me.” Oikawa stares at the area within the circle, trying to put any of the puzzle pieces together. “Which direction was the body facing?”

“East to west,” Iwaizumi answers, already knowing Oikawa would eventually ask. 

“Interesting. Look at this,” Oikawa points to the grass inside the circle. 

Daichi crouches down beside him to get a closer look. “What is it? I don’t see anything off.”

“Exactly. No scuff marks from where the body was found. Which means it was placed there, not dropped.”

“And that’s significant, how?” Iwaizumi asks. 

“There weren’t any footprints found at the scene, were there?”

Iwaizumi stays quiet, thinking. It rained recently, so hypothetically there should have been footprints, but as Oikawa already knew, there weren’t any when they first arrived. 

“None from whoever would have dropped him off, or from himself if he came out here, lied down, and died,” Oikawa pointed out. 

Suddenly, Daichi’s phone rang again. After seeing it was from Kuroo, he stood and took a few steps away from where Oikawa and Iwaizumi were talking. He was not going to risk putting Kuroo on speaker again. 

"Ooh, is your boyfriend calling you again?" Oikawa calls out to him in a teasing voice.

"Shut up," Daichi chuckles, answering the call. "Miss me already?”

The line was silent. 

“Hello? Kuroo?”

He can hear the faintest sound over the phone, something wet and crunchy. He looks at his phone screen briefly to see if he had reception, perhaps it was static. That, or Kuroo accidentally pocket dialed him. But as the sounds continue, he started to hear increasingly labored breathing. 

“Kuroo,” Daichi repeats, a bit more concerned. “Kuroo, are you ok? Is something wrong?”

The odd sounds got louder, as did the breathing. He hears what sounded like a choking noise. 

“Tetsurou, what’s happening, are you ok?” Daichi practically shouts into the phone, starting to panic. He doesn't even realize Oikawa and Iwaizumi have come up beside him to see what's wrong. 

Then he hears a shout, followed by a bang, and then the line goes dead. 

Daichi looks up at his partners with wide eyes. “We have to get back, now.”

They run back to the car, Iwaizumi hitting the gas before the last door even closes. Daichi tries calling Kuroo’s phone back but it goes straight to voicemail, so he calls the Bureau instead. 

“Hello? I need someone to check on Kuroo Tetsurou, down in the lab. It’s an emergency. Yes, right now!” 

Daichi feels like all the blood has left his body. He keeps going over the disturbing sounds again and again in his head. What was all that? What could have happened? Is Kuroo alright? Is he…

“Sawamura, what happened?” Iwaizumi finally asks. 

“I—I don’t know. Kuroo called but, but he wasn’t responding, I kept hearing some weird noises, then I heard someone scream, I think it was Kuroo, then it cut off,” Daichi rambles. He knows he needs to calm down, but he can't stop the feeling of bile rising up in his throat. 

“Do you think someone came for the body?” Oikawa asks. 

“I don’t know," Iwaizumi says. "But I do know Kuroo is a smart guy, all we can do right now is get back and trust that he’s gonna be there to tell us what happened." He hopes his words are enough to comfort his distraught partner in the back seat. 

Daichi swallows thickly and takes a deep breath. “Yeah. Yeah.”

  
*** * ***   
  


Kuroo puts down his phone, half pleased with himself and half disappointed with himself. Yes, he was finally able to secure a dinner with Daichi, but at the cost of his dignity. He’d really have to figure out a way to come back from calling him ‘Daddy’ in front of their colleagues. Kuroo is usually cool and witty, but around Daichi he seems to act more like a loser than a seductive scientist.

He’ll make it up to him, somehow. First, perhaps, with this case. 

Kuroo has never seen something so peculiar in all his years as a forensic pathologist. Sure, he’s tested some pretty weird substances for Oikawa, but he’s never actually had an entire body to investigate like this. 

He takes pictures of the mystery man’s insides, takes a few tissue samples, then stitches him back up. This is going to be another long night at the lab, but Kuroo is fine with that. He's interested, and when he really gets into something it's hard to quench his curiosity. He is going to need a lot more coffee. 

While Kuroo stares at the brewing pot, he thinks he hears a noise come from behind him. He turns around, but there's nothing there. He's usually the only one down here anyway, and seeing as it was getting late, he doesn't suppose anyone would be coming to pay a visit. Oikawa and Daichi were usually the only ones who came to see him in person, anyway. 

He shrugs it off. He isn't the type to get spooked easily, even if he does work in a morgue. All of his patients were already dead, so what was there to be afraid of?

He grabs his coffee and sits back down at his desk. 

After some time has passed, while he is looking at a tissue sample under a microscope, he hears another noise. Kuroo turns around, but again, nothing is there. 

“Get it together,” he tells himself. “It’s too early to be losing it.”

He tries to focus on his work, but he can't shake the feeling that he isn't alone. Like someone is in the room with him, and they are watching him. The room feels tense, it like the walls are made of magnets. The hairs on the back of his neck and arms rise, but he is determined to ignore the sinking feeling in his stomach. Maybe it's just a mouse that somehow got in the lab? He’ll pick up some mousetraps tomorrow morning, the kind where you can release them alive after catching them, and he’ll be done with it. 

He is able to get through two more samples when he hears the noise again. He is planning to to ignore it this time, but the noise doesn't stop. He hears the shuffling of cloth, and that sinking feeling he had earlier rushes back to the surface. 

Slowly, Kuroo turns in his chair, and little could prepare him for the sight before him. 

On the examination table, the man he has just performed an autopsy on is sitting up. The cloth falls down as he turns and hangs his legs off the table, revealing the fresh stitches on his chest that Kuroo had done himself. 

With a shaking hand, Kuroo speed dials Daichi. The man on the table locks eyes with him, and out of shock he drops the phone on the floor. 

Kuroo feels like he can't breathe, like the air had been wrenched from his lungs. How is this happening? This isn't supposed to be happening. This guy is supposed to be dead.

The man doesn't break his gaze with Kuroo as he stands up before him. Then, there is a sloshing sound, followed by cracks like wood popping in a fire.

With silent horror, Kuroo watches as the reanimated man in front of him begins to change. There are ripples under his skin, like water on a windy day, like beetles crawling around inside of him. All Kuroo can do is watch as the man’s skin and bones break apart and come back together again. The face it is morphing into is sickeningly familiar. It's the face Kuroo stares at in a mirror every day. 

The man, thing, creature, who now looks exactly like Kuroo takes a step toward him. Kuroo tries to scream, but it just comes out as a choke. 

_“Tetsurou, what’s happening, are you ok?!”_

Daichi’s voice coming from the phone breaks him out of his horror-stricken trance. 

The other-Kuroo hears it too, quickly glancing at the phone. Then, Kuroo watches how it’s eyes flick towards a scalpel on the table, then back to him. They stare at each other for a tense moment. 

In a flash, it lunges towards the scalpel, and with a shout Kuroo leaps to his feet and runs for the door. It's on his tail in an instant, and so Kuroo throws one of the mayo stands behind him to try and slow it down, scattering surgical tools all across the floor. He throws down everything in his path as he runs, not bothering to look behind him to see how close they are. That thing is fast, but Kuroo knows this floor better than anyone, and he is going to use that to his advantage.

A lot of people have complained about how the lab floor is built like a maze, but after working there for so many years it's impossible for Kuroo to get lost in it. He hears the steps behind him to know that he is still being pursued, so he pushes his legs to move harder. 

He almost thinks about trying to catch the elevator, but he knows he won't be able to get inside and close the doors before that thing gets him. He rips open the door to the stairwell, nearly tripping from the sloppy force of his own movements. It's a six winding flights to get to the main level. Up there will be agents with some actual weapons who can take this thing down, he hopes. 

As he practically flies up the stairs he hears the door at the bottom open with a bang. His legs feel like dead weights, it's almost like trying to run in a dream. Or a nightmare, more accurately. 

Just a couple more flights and he will be there. He pushes his body to keep flying forward, but then he feels the back of his coat being tugged on. In a fluid movement, he pulls his arms free of it and lets it be taken. He realizes he isn't going to make it to the main level. So he pushes through the next door he comes across. 

It was the second to first floor, and surprisingly empty. There wasn’t anyone to warn or call out to for help, so he kept running, following the glowing exit signs to the other side of the floor. There's a cleaning supplies cart in the hall, and as he runs past he pushed it over to partially block his path. He hopes it slows down his attacker, but he isn't about to turn around and check. When he gets to the other stairwell, he is jumping up four steps at a time, and he nearly sobs in relief when he pushes through the door and out into actual fresh air. It's dark, and he's at the far end of the building, where only a few empty parked cars remain. The growl behind him shoots him back into motion. 

Perhaps if he had a clearer head, he would’ve thought to run to the other side of the building, where there were security guards. But the only thoughts going through his mind at that moment are, ‘run, run, run.’ 

So he does. Kuroo runs away from the building, away from that thing, he runs and runs and he keeps running until he is choking for air. Then he runs some more. He isn't sure how much time passes, but only after he is sure he is no longer being chased does he stop. 

With the threat no longer looming, and the adrenaline dying down, everything starts to hit him at once. He leans against the brick wall of the alley he is now standing in and thows up. 

After catching his breath some, he looks up and realizes he has no idea where he is. It also dawns on him that he forgot to grab his phone in his haste to escape. His eyes dart around until they land on possibly one of the last pay phones in the city. Only one problem, he also doesn't have his wallet. 

“Please, could I please have some change for the phone? Please, it’s an emergency,” he begs desperately of the people walking by. Most people avoid him, not even wanting to look at him. He has to assume how wild and deranged he looks at the moment. He’s probably asked over two dozen people before some kind soul gives him their loose change, probably just to get him to shut up. He thanks them profusely, then walks over to the old phone and types in Daichi’s number with shaking hands. 

_“Hello?”_ comes Daichi’s voice, sounding desperate. 

“Hey,” Kuroo responds meekly. 

_“Kuroo? Oh my god, is that you? Are you alright? What happened? Where are you?”_

There are too many questions at once, and Kuroo is still trying to process the whole ordeal for himself. 

“Um...pay phone,” he tells him. He's having trouble speaking, as he comes off the high from earlier he feels almost numb. His tongue feels heavy and dry in his mouth. 

_“Where? We’ll come get you.”_

“Don’t know…”

_“Can you tell me what’s near, that’ll help me find you. Any shops, restaurants?”_

Kuroo looks around, trying to get his eyes to focus on reading any of the signs in front of him. 

“There’s...a phone repair store. And… a tea shop. Flying Garden Tearoom.”

_“Good, that’s good, Kuroo, stay on the line with me while we look it up.”_

“Ok.”

_“Ok, we found it, we’re going to be there as soon as we can, ok? Just stay where you are, we’re coming to get you.”_

Kuroo nods his head, despite the fact that Daichi can't see it. For some reason, hearing Daichi’s voice and knowing they were coming start to get to him, and Kuroo finds himself blinking back tears. 

“Yeah. Yeah, ok.”

_“Are you hurt?”_

“I don’t think so.”

_“Are you alone?”_

Kuroo looks around, scanning the crowd for anyone who looks just like him. 

“Yeah.”

The autonomic voice recorder speaks over the line, alerting them they only have one minute left of their call. 

_“Kuroo, the call is gonna end soon, but I’m coming, ok? We’ll be there soon.”_

“Uh huh.”

Kuroo wishes he could say more, that he could say anything. All he can think about was that thing, how it transformed into him before his eyes, how it nearly killed him. 

_“Kuroo, breathe, ok? Breathe.”_

Kuroo didn’t even realize he was hyperventilating again.

“Talk,” he chokes out. 

_“Ok, yeah, just keep breathing. In and out. We’re coming as fast as we can. In through your nose and out your mouth. Yeah, like that.”_

Kuroo closes his eyes and focuses on Daichi’s voice. In and out, in and out. The phone begins to beep. 

_“Just keep breathing, Kuroo, I’ll be there soon.”_

When the call disconnects, Kuroo focuses only on Daichi’s words. 

Just breathe. In and out. He’ll be there soon. 

*** * ***

Daichi is running out of the car before it has even fully stopped. He spotts Kuroo immediately, standing nervously next to a pay phone. He looks like a complete wreck. His skin is devoid of color, his body seems to be almost caving in on itself, making him appear smaller than he actually is. 

“Kuroo—“ Daichi calls out, rushing over to him. 

Kuroo’s head whips in his direction, and he clumsily makes his way up to Daichi and into his arms. He is trembling, Daichi notices. They both are. 

Daichi pulls away while still keeping his hands on Kuroo’s shoulders. “Are you hurt?” 

Kuroo shakes his head. “No, I was able to get away.”

“Get away from what?” Oikawa asks, stepping forward. 

“I…” Kuroo starts, trying to form the words. “I don’t even know. You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Try me.”

“Hey, hold on, maybe we should sit down first,” Daichi says. He's practically holding up Kuroo, whose legs have begun to shake. “Lets go inside that tea house, then we can talk.”

“Yeah, we shouldn’t be talking out here anyway,” Iwaizumi agrees after joining them. They have already gathered a few stares from curious pedestrians. 

They find a booth in the back away from other patrons, luckily the place isn't too crowded which means they can actually have a little privacy. When the tea is served, Kuroo lifts his cup to his mouth with shaking hands. Daichi rubs his back comfortingly. 

“So, what happened?” Iwaizumi asks after a moment. 

“That body...whatever it is, it’s not human,” Kuroo says, staring at the tea. 

“What do you mean?”

“It...look, I know how this is going to sound, but I swear I know what I saw, ok, I’m not crazy,” Kuroo asserts, more as an affirmation for himself than for the others. 

“We know you’re not,” Daichi says softly, still keeping his hand on Kuroo’s back. “Just tell us what happened.”

Kuroo looks at Iwaizumi and Oikawa skeptically, more so at the former, then brings his gaze to Daichi. Daichi’s eyes are full of trust, and worry, and strength, which Kuroo feels is what he desperately needs right now. “The body came back to life.”

“What?” Iwaizumi asks with wide eyes. 

“I thought you already performed the autopsy?” Daichi gawks. 

“I did.”

“What did he do when he came back to life?” Oikawa has leaned so far over the table that he is in danger of spilling hot tea all over himself and Iwaizumi. 

“He—it—well…” Kuroo trails off, his brain a mess again. Daichi rubs at his back again in encouragement. “It turned into me.”

Everyone freezes, except for Oikawa, who is clearly trying to hold back his excitement. “Now, when you say they turned into you, you mean—“

“I mean the damn thing literally transformed into a perfect copy of me right in front of my eyes!” Kuroo interrupts him. 

“Ok, let’s all calm down,” Daichi says, looking around to see if anyone was staring at their table. “What happened after he...turned into you?”

Kuroo sighs into his hands, rubbing at his eyes. “It picked up a scalpel and tried to fucking kill me.”

Iwaizumi has to roughly knee Oikawa under the table, who is practically vibrating with excitement by this point. 

“You aren’t hurt, though?” Iwaizumi asks, trying to keep all skepticism out of his voice. 

“Thankfully, I was able to outrun it. I think I lost it somewhere back at the Bureau.”

“You think you lost it?” 

“I didn’t exactly have the opportunity to turn around and check if it was still chasing me,” Kuroo snaps at him, a little annoyed. 

“That means it might still be there…” Oikawa mumbles. 

“We have to call the Bureau," Daichi says. "We have to warn them."

“And tell them what? No one is gonna believe this,” Kuroo says bitterly. 

“We have to do something…”

“We’re going to have to do everything ourselves,” Oikawa tells them firmly. They can all tell that he is speaking from experience. 

“The security cameras,” Iwaizumi says suddenly. “There should be footage.”

Daichi grins and immediately takes out his phone, calling the front desk and asking them to look at the footage from an hour ago. The group all watch him anxiously, waiting for him to tell them it was caught on tape.

Daichi's face falls solemnly and he hangs up the phone. “The footage seems to be damaged.”

Iwaizumi groans. “What? How?”

“It’s all static, since this morning. There’s no proof of a body even coming in.”

“Fuck,” Kuroo mutters. 

“Hm, I guess that’s to be expected,” Oikawa sighs. “They have to cover their tracks so they don’t get caught, using electromagnetic frequencies perhaps.”

Iwaizumi scoffs and rolled his eyes. “That’s sure as hell convenient.”

Kuroo shoots him a glare. “What? You saying you don’t believe me?”

“No…” Iwaizumi says carefully. “I believe that you’re telling the truth, but… I think that there’s another logical explanation for this.”

“Like what? Like I hallucinated the whole thing?”

Iwaizumi shrugs, not wanting to offend. 

“I am a doctor,” Kuroo says seriously. “I have studied and believed in the laws of physics without any reasonable doubt that it was correct. But I know what I saw today.”

Everyone sits in a tense silence, tea starting to go cold. Iwaizumi doesn't know what to make of all this. Of course, he believes that Kuroo is telling him the truth. He at least believes that Kuroo believes that’s what happened. But he just can't believe it actually did happen. People don’t just come back to life after an autopsy and transform into another person. That can’t be real, so then what really happened?

“Look,” Daichi starts, breaking the silence. “It’s been a long day, let’s just get some rest and try and figure this out in the morning. I don’t see anything we can do right now, especially without some sleep.”

Kuroo starts to nod before his eyes went wide. “Shit.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I left all of my stuff at work. My phone, my wallet, my keys…”

“That’s ok, you can stay with me tonight,” Daichi offers with a comforting smile. Truthfully, he was going to offer anyway. He doesn't want Kuroo to be by himself after what he went through today. 

Kuroo smiles back at him softly and nods. “Thanks.”

“We can drop you off first,” Iwaizumi says, grabbing his jacket off the seat. Just then, Oikawa’s phone buzzes. 

“The missing persons database,” Oikawa says quietly. “It found a match.”

Iwaizumi looks over his shoulder at the phone. “And? Who’s our guy?”

“Yamikawa Tomo. But…” 

“But what?”

“He was found dead two weeks ago. His body is buried in Niigata.”

  
*** * ***   
  


“Sorry about the mess, I wasn’t expecting to have someone over,” Daichi tells Kuroo as they enter his apartment. Kuroo isn't sure exactly what was meant to be a mess, maybe the dishes in the sink? The laundry basket that's full? Other than that, it seems pretty clean. 

Daichi’s apartment isn't flashy, but it wasn’t minimalist either. ‘Homey’ is the word that comes to Kuroo’s mind. The couch looks like it was chosen for comfort over style, with a soft looking blanket hanging over the side. There are a few pictures on the walls, of what appears to be Daichi’s family and friends. It felt intimate being in his space like this, not at all like how it feels when Daichi comes to visit him in his lab. 

“Thank you for letting me crash here, seriously,” Kuroo says earnestly. “Sorry to burden you like this.”

Daichi looks at him in genuine shock. “You’re not being a burden. Are you forgetting how I am the one who invited you here?”

Still, Kuroo doesn't look convinced. 

“Kuroo,” Daichi says seriously, stepping closer to him and putting a hand on his arm. “You’ve had a hell of a day, you don’t need to add staying with me to your list of worries. I mean it.”

Kuroo smiles down at him, warmth blooming in his chest. “You’re a really good guy, Sa’amura.”

Daichi’s face colors slightly and he pulls his hand away to scratch his cheek. “Well, like I said, it’s not a problem.”

They hover in the entryway awkwardly, not sure where to go from there. Daichi eventually clears his throat. 

“Did you maybe want to shower?”

“Oh no, do I really smell that bad?”

“No, of course not!”

“Oho, just trying to get me naked then?”

Kuroo smirkes down at Daichi, easily falling back into their usual rhythm. Teasing and flirting with Daichi comes to him as naturally as dissecting a corpse. 

“Ya know, I was gonna offer you my bed, but now you can sleep on the floor.”

“Naked and propositioning me to your bed? So forward, Sa’amura-kun!”

Daichi turns on his heel and walks into the living room, only a short couple of steps, with Kuroo trailing right behind him. 

“Ok, but seriously, I could use a shower.”

Daichi pulls out a clean towel and washcloth, hesitating before leading Kuroo to the bathroom. 

“Hold on,” he tells him before heading into his bedroom. After a few moments he returns holding a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. 

“Hopefully these will fit you,” Daichi says, handing them over. “I can wash your clothes tonight so you have something clean to wear tomorrow.”

“You would make a great house-husband, Sa’amura,” Kuroo grins. 

“Get in the shower before I drown you in it.”

“Yessir.”

As Kuroo showers, Daichi desperately tries to busy himself with anything to not think about how Kuroo was naked in his apartment. And that he will be sleeping there. And that a shapeshifter that looked like him is out there somewhere. 

He decides to use the time to quickly clean what he could. He is finishing up the dishes when Kuroo finally steps back into the living room in the clothes that Daichi gave him. The sweatpants cut off around his calves, and the shirt, from Daichi’s bootcamp days, comes up short around the waist. He looks like someone who grew a foot overnight. 

“Don’t say a word,” Daichi warns when he sees Kuroo’s face. 

“Of course not, I wouldn’t dream of saying something about your height, or lack thereof.”

“It’s not my fault that you’re freakishly tall!”

“Your words are a dagger to my heart,” Kuroo sighs dramatically, holding a hand to his chest. 

Daichi takes Kuroo’s dirty clothes from him, grumbling under his breath as he puts them in the wash with his own clothes. It shouldn’t have, but it felt incredibly domestic.

“You ready for bed?” Daichi asks. 

“Actually, as tired as I am, I don’t think I can sleep,” Kuroo admits. 

They both settle on the couch, Daichi slightly turned towards him. 

“Every time I close my eyes… I see it again.” Kuroo shudders at the memory, and Daichi puts a comforting hand on his shoulder. 

“Hey, you know you can talk to me, right?” 

Kuroo smiles softly at him. “Thank you, I know, I— I just honestly don’t know what else to say.”

Daichi looks at him, not sure what to say either. What are you supposed to say to someone who watched a dead man come back to life and then shapeshift into them?

“We can watch TV until you feel tired, if you want,” he offers. 

“Sure.”

“What do you normally like to watch?”

“Hm, usually cooking shows.”

“Really? Me too.”

Daichi puts on a random cooking show and they watch in silence for a bit. Neither of them were really paying attention to what was happening on the screen, it was just a good way to zone out for a while. It's a while until Kuroo finally breaks the silence.

“Hey, Sa’amura, can I ask you something?”

Daichi turns to give him his full attention. 

“Yeah, of course.”

“Do you believe me?”

Daichi’s eyes widen slightly. Kuroo isn’t meeting his gaze, instead fiddling with his own fingers in his lap. It's very uncharacteristic for him, he's usually poking fun, being sarcastic, meeting others face to face. Daichi has seen a whole new side to Kuroo today, and it wasn’t under circumstances that he would’ve liked it to happen. 

“Yes.”

Kuroo’s eyes shoot up to look at him, searching his gaze for any hint of doubt. He doesn't expect to find any, but it has been a crazy day that caused him to start questioning everything he held to be true and right. At least, after everything, Daichi is still the same. Honest, hard-working, caring, funny. This is still his Sa’amura. Kuroo holds on to that truth like it's his lifeline. 

“What do you think it is?” he asks.

Daichi sighs and rubbed the back of his head. “I… I don’t know. This whole damn thing has been the craziest thing to ever happen to me.”

Kuroo chuckles half-heartedly. He sometimes teases Daichi about how cookie-cutter he was. “I’d say it’s in the top three for me.”

Daichi smiles at him, glad to see some of his personality coming back. Most of the trembling from earlier has gone, but he notices Kuroo was gripping his knee far too tightly. Gently, he reaches down and takes Kuroo’s hand in his.

“I swear to you Kuroo, I’m going to figure this out. And I’m not gonna let you get hurt.”

Kuroo holds his hand tight and nods sharply.

They don't talk more about it beyond that, instead choosing to talk about random things about their personal lives. Kuroo learns that Daichi always wanted a dog but didn’t want to get one until he knew he’d have time for it, Kuroo tells him about all his plant ‘babies’ at home. It's nice to forget everything for a while.

Before they realize it, they’ve both fallen asleep, Daichi’s head on Kuroo’s shoulder, Kuroo’s hand laced in his. They do not see how the picture on the TV goes static, or the distorted figure that appears on the screen and watches them. 

  
*** * ***   
  


Iwaizumi drops his keys into the tiny porcelain dish in the entryway, kicks off his shoes and hangs his jacket up on the coat rack. He is exhausted, and just wants to shower and go to bed. 

“Uh-uh, I don’t think so,” he says tiredly, grabbing Oikawa who is darting towards the living room where his laptop is. “At least get changed first.”

Oikawa sighs dramatically. “What are you, my mother?”

“If I was your mother, I’d already have kicked you in the ass.”

“You two have always gotten along far too well…”

“I’m gonna take a shower. You better get changed,” Iwaizumi warns sternly. He knows Oikawa too well, and has seen how many times he would stay up all night in his work clothes typing away on that computer. Sometimes, he’d forget to eat, and Iwaizumi would have to drag him away to get some proper food. 

Oikawa waves his hand and walks down the hall, not willing to try and fight on this. Satisfied, Iwaizumi goes in to the bathroom for a much needed shower. 

As the hot water pours over him, he tries to make sense of the day’s events. He called Oikawa in on this because it was odd, but it just keeps getting worse. And with what happened with Kuroo, he isn't sure what to think anymore. Kuroo is a forensic pathologist, a damn good one, and although he gets along well with Oikawa and helps him out, he never once showed any signs of believing in the same paranormal phenomena that Oikawa does. Iwaizumi knows Kuroo isn't lying, or crazy, but that just makes it more complicated. Hopefully tomorrow they’ll find some actual answers, and put to bed any theories about aliens Oikawa has. 

It’s not that he thinks Oikawa is crazy, either. He's definitely one of the brightest people he’s ever known. His mind is always calculating, always figuring out what the best course of action is. Does that mean Iwaizumi believes in aliens and ghosts and cryptids? Absolutely not. But he trusts Oikawa, and that's enough. 

When Iwaizumi is out of the shower and in some clean clothes, he walks out to the living room to see Oikawa in his pajamas and glasses, curled up on the couch with his laptop.

“Promise me you’re not going to stay up all night,” Iwaizumi says as he walked over. He leans over the back of the couch, hovering over Oikawa’s shoulder. 

“I thought we agreed to not lie to each other,” Oikawa says, not looking away from the screen. 

“Tooru…”

“I promise, I promise!”

“I want you in bed before I fall asleep, okay?”

“Aww, if you wanted to cuddle, all you had to do was say so,” Oikawa teases sweetly, finally turning to look at him. 

“And what if I do? Would you actually come to bed?”

Oikawa gawks at him for a moment, not expecting the seriousness in his voice. He weighs his options carefully, it would be nice to finally have some down time, but…

“This is all just so fascinating! You know I can’t leave any stone left unturned,” Oikawa whines. 

“I know, I know,” Iwaizumi sighs. He knew this was a losing battle from the start. 

Oikawa’s eyes soften as he reaches up and gently caresses Iwaizumi’s cheek. 

“Give me a kiss, and I’ll come to bed in thirty minutes.”

“Fifteen.”

“Twenty.”

Iwaizumi leans down and kisses him slowly, trying to savor everything about this small moment like he wouldn’t ever get it again. He always kisses Oikawa like this. 

“Twenty minutes, Tooru, not a second more,” Iwaizumi tells him firmly as he walks towards their bedroom. 

“It doesn’t start until you leave!” Oikawa calls back. 

He can imagine Iwaizumi shaking his head as he crawls into bed. While it does tug at his heart to picture him laying there alone, there is a lot of work to be done. This case has already proven itself to be the most interesting he’s ever had a chance to study himself, and it's still only Day 1. 

First, Oikawa checks the internet for any UFO sightings in the areas that Yamikawa Tomo went missing, was found, and where his doppelgänger ended up. He’s been doing this for so long, he can quickly pick out the real stories from the fakes. 

There are indeed multiple sightings in the areas around those times, spanning from everyday people, to law enforcement, to schoolchildren. While that lends credibility to alien activity, Oikawa still can't come up with a motive. Why are they abducting people, killing them, and taking their form? Is the body they found at the farm a plant? And where are they now?

While it is concerning that the being had taken Kuroo’s form, there had been no signs of them at the Bureau, from what security told them. No one who looked like Kuroo was out and about, which is only somewhat a relief. If they no longer look like Kuroo, who do they look like now?

It's becoming clear that their preferred method was disposing of the people they shape shifted into, so Kuroo was lucky to have gotten out of there before then. But why? What was the point? If they aren't trying to blend seamlessly into that person’s life, why take their form at all? 

Sighing, he looks up at the clock on the wall. It's been 24 minutes. As much as he would like to stay up and continue chasing the rabbit, he is only finding more questions than answers. And, he owes someone a cuddle. 

When he stands up he felt a sharp pain in his knee. It always seems to hurt when he's chasing things like this. Ever since that day when he was a child and he first saw the glowing lights.

**Author's Note:**

> and they were roommates
> 
> this is the longest fic i've ever written or attempted, i hope you enjoyed reading it as much as i did writing it! 
> 
> fakeanimeboi on twitter


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